//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Twilight's Fear // by Lux //------------------------------// Chapter 1 Twilight awoke suddenly, sitting bolt upright as her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. The moment her eyes shot open the Alicorn was greeted by a blinding white light, forcing her to shut them. For a moment she remained in the darkness until slowly she reopened her eyes as they adjusted. To her relief she found herself in her bedroom, not in the smoke filled streets of Ponyville. Thinking about the town made Twilight panic as the Princess shot from her bed and flew down the hallway as fast as her wing could take her. She narrowly missed one of the castle guards who literally jumped out of the way of the speeding Princess. “Sorry,” Twilight said not stopping her flight until she reached the ornate double doors that led to the balcony. Using the magic she threw them open, almost tearing them off their hinges as she stepped out into the open morning sky. Looking down at Ponyville below her she breathed a sigh of relief. The town was not in flames but was just as how she remembered it to be the many years she lived there. Ponies were already out on the streets, some conversing with each other and other making ready their businesses for the day. The Princess immediately realized how much she took for granted the peace that the town shared, that aside from a few problems most incidents were few and fleeting. Her mind instantly returned to that horrific moment when she faced Tirek and despite putting her entire force into her fight she almost lost had it not been for the secrets within the crystal box. “It was just a dream,” she replied with a relieved sigh before noticing a group of fillies looking up at her from below. She waved to them but to her surprise the group giggled and trotted off to their destination. The Alicorn wondered what that was about until she remembered having just jumped out of bed, no attention given to how she looked. With her face reddened by the revelation she retreated back into the safety of her castle, shutting the door behind her. She was about to return to her bedroom when she met a familiar face. “Oh, hi Spike,” Twilight said. “Nice mane style you got there,” the dragon said with a chuckle, “Felt like not getting ready today?” “No Spike, My mind was just occupied on something.” “Yeah, I know. I heard you dash out of your room, and the noise woke me up. You know, I thought you’re supposed to be more graceful now that you’re a Princess.” “Sorry about waking you up Spike,” Twilight said, “I was distracted by something.” “What kind of something? Did you forget to do something on your to-do list last night?” “No, it was actually a dream… well more like a nightmare.” “What kind of nightmare?” Twilight was about to explain everything about the dream in detail, but she decided not to. The last thing she wanted to do was to traumatize the poor dragon or worse have it spread among her friends or even the town and cause a panic. She was a Princess of Friendship, not chaos. Although she hated to hide something from Spike, it was for the good of the town. “Oh it was nothing, just a silly dream,” Twilight said shaking her head, “Guess I got freaked out for nothing.” The dragon simply shrugged at Twilight’s dismissal. He was used to seeing her in her moments of sheer happiness and times when she was having a meltdown of epic proportions. The last thing he wanted to do was to belabor the point further and make the Princess of Friendship worry more. After all, it was Twilight’s nightmare and who better to know what she thought than her? “Alright Spike, tell me the day’s tasks!” she said confidently. “Yes mam!” Spike said giving a smart salute to her guardian, “Well, you have a meeting with Mayor Mare about the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration, then meeting with Applejack about food for the festival, then Rainbow Dash for checking on the weather, next is Fluttershy for her bird choir practice, Rarity for her decorating of the town hall, and last but not least Pinkie Pie for the overnight party.” “Well, those shouldn’t be hard to do by themselves,” Twilight said, “the mayor trusts my decisions and as for my friends… well… I know that each of what they will contribute to the event will be in capable hooves! This is going to be a long day though, so let’s get started!” Twilight was about to gallop off to her duties when Spike made a loud forced cough to get the Alicorn’s attention. “What?” Twilight said a little annoyed about being stopped. “Um… you may want to think about getting ready for the day as your mane and tail look… well… like you were caught in a hurricane.” “Oh!” Twilight said as her face reddened realizing her error in haste, “Right, I should tame this wild mane of mine, shouldn’t I?” Suddenly her stomach let out a very not Princess-like growl in protest that took the by dragon by surprise. “And breakfast too,” she added as she returned to her bedroom to freshen up leaving Spike to chuckle and shake his head at the Princess’s mental misstep.